Japh said
A theme deals with the visual aspects of a WordPress install, and plugins add functionality.

So, why shortcodes must be in plugin? Shortcodes like dropcap, buttons, tables, columns, boxes etc. it’s all visual elements, not functional. They don’t provide any functionality, they just look.

As has been mentioned many times over, the major problem is data portability. Once a user switches to another theme, that shortcode is broken. It’s the same with things like CPTs and taxonomies.

But at the end of the day, styling a theme is for the theme we have created, not to enhance another theme. Keeping data is one thing, making another theme look better and function better is another.

Im sure ThemeFusion will not want there shortcodes/functionality within other themes.

Dont get me wrong, I can see the benefits of this for the buyer, but I can see a ball ache for developers when users come back saying, it does not look right… Their past content from the theme the developer created on a new theme some other developer created, and vise versa.

From the 5 years Ive been on WordPress I have never had any support/client ever ask:

“Why is my shortcodes not working on my new theme”.

Or

“Why is my old portfolio not showing” etc etc etc…

When people buy a new theme, it generally is to provide a new presence and not to use old content.

greenshady said
As has been mentioned many times over, the major problem is data portability. Once a user switches to another theme, that shortcode is broken. It’s the same with things like CPTs and taxonomies.

But at the end of the day, styling a theme is for the theme we have created, not to enhance another theme. Keeping data is one thing, making another theme look better and function better is another.

Im sure ThemeFusion will not want there shortcodes/functionality within other themes.

Dont get me wrong, I can see the benefits of this for the buyer, but I can see a ball ache for developers when users come back saying, it does not look right… Their past content from the theme the developer created on a new theme some other developer created, and vise versa.

At the end of the day, it’s what’s best for users. The higher-ups here are TF realize that and are finally doing something about it. They realize they need to quit screwing users over and play nice with the rest of the WordPress development community. It’ll be better for long-term business.

Put all other arguments aside. What is best for the users? Not just short term but long term as well?

UBL said
From the 5 years Ive been on WordPress I have never had any support/client ever ask:

“Why is my shortcodes not working on my new theme”.

Or

“Why is my old portfolio not showing” etc etc etc…

When people buy a new theme, it generally is to provide a new presence and not to use old content.

I’ve been doing this longer than 5 years and have had those exact questions. Many, many times. More than 90% of the time, these questions are from users who were previously using a ThemeForest theme.

When people install a new theme, it’s generally to provide a new look for their existing content.

Hi,
Can we include the script which will be initialized and used by plugins only? It doesn’t used in the theme while plugins aren’t connected, but it loads. For example, slider is used in the shortcodes, while “CPT” plugin is connected and for any other advanced options. It’s very bad if you have to duplicate the script and use different dependencies.

rvision_ said
Can we bundle required plugins in a separate folder and let users upload them individually? Or this is a space-mission task for users?

Yes, you can.

fireform said
Hi,
Can we include the script which will be initialized and used by plugins only? It doesn’t used in the theme while plugins aren’t connected, but it loads. For example, slider is used in the shortcodes, while “CPT” plugin is connected and for any other advanced options. It’s very bad if you have to duplicate the script and use different dependencies.

Can you explain a little bit more please? It’s a little fuzzy to me now.

rvision_ said
Can we bundle required plugins in a separate folder and let users upload them individually? Or this is a space-mission task for users?

Yes, you can.

Great. One of the reasons that I don’t want to use TGMPA is because everyone can download the zip files from my theme if they know the location. For “pirates” is enough to share one link in a public forum and we become, or to be precise, buyers becomes a distributor of ilegal plugin copies. If someone have a solution of how to forbid direct download then I will use this TGMPA for sure.

“Im sure ThemeFusion will not want there shortcodes/functionality within other themes.”

To put on the record, on day one of the first announcement, it came to us a shock purely because of deadline and buyer expectations. When it was clear that all already approved themes will have a much larger deadline since then we have been fully supporting the new requirements and will be following it, we have a much larger timeframe to support the WordPress and ThemeForest conditions and think about the changed workflow for our buyers.

We’re happy to follow and support them in the coming months.

Personally, as a developer, I am quite happy to work on these changes and write better code which in the long run will be beneficial to our business and our users.

Guys, congrats on taking this step and on working so close with the community to clarify and implement these changes smoothly. I’ve seen a lot of valuable feedback and even learned a lot from experienced developers and authors in these ~100 pages and am glad to see that authors that I personally admire and respect (some even know) are on board with these new requirements and even encourage them.

They follow good practice, push developers to be creative without being sloppy and put a clear limit between style and functionality. Also, they help educate clients and in the end, an educated client is a happy and much easier to deal with client. So, thanks Envato team and Japh particularly for “wasting” so much time doing an amazing communication job that at times has become frustrating and repetitive. Much respect.

As an aside – no promo intended – this recent video from Apple (Mission Statement) kind of reaches a few points of the whole “jam-packed” design/functionality debate that has been going on lately, although it has nothing to do with WordPress. Still, the principles apply: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpZmIiIXuZ0

If everyone is busy making everything, how can anyone perfect anything? We start to confuse convenience with joy, abundance with choice. Designing something requires focus. The first thing we ask is: What do we want people to feel? Delight. Surprise. Love. Connection. Then we begin to craft around our intention. It takes time… There are a thousand no’s for every yes. We simplify. We perfect. We start over.

Words of wisdom. Have a good day/night everyone and may you sales skyrocket!

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